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UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Centre for English and World Languages

Attendance Monitoring Policy and Procedures

Weekly Attendance Monitoring Signed Registers From the 2014-15 academic year signed attendance registers will no longer be required for seminars, lectures or tutorials for all Kent International Pathway modules. Instead teaching staff are required to enter attendance directly onto SDS either during the class itself, or at the very latest by the end of the same day. We do not require attendance monitoring or registers for lectures where we feel due to large student numbers it can negatively impact the flow of a lecture. World Language and In-sessional module teachers are required to enter attendance directly onto SDS for seminars and tutorials in the same way, but due to the way staff are recruited and the necessity for attendance monitoring we will continue to use paper registers for Language Express programmes, which will be input by CEWL admin staff at the end of the same week. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL CENTRE TEACHING STAFF TO ENSURE THAT ATTENDANCE DATA RELATING TO THE STUDENTS ON MODULES THEY TEACH IS CORRECT AND UP TO DATE ON SDS. Spot checks will be undertaken during the year to ensure registers are being completed. In addition, it is recommended that teaching staff keep their own attendance records to ensure any future discrepancies in attendance data can be verified. Instructions for how to enter attendance on SDS are included at the end of this document (appendix 7). Teaching staff are encouraged to meet with a member of the admin office should they require additional training in using SDS for attendance inputting purposes. On-going Reports The Student Support and Experience Officer (SSEO) will run the following attendance reports as per the schedule outlined below: Stu272 – Absence and Performance report (under ‘Live reports’ on SDS ‘Reporting Services’ menu):

This report gives a general overview of student absence as a percentage and total number of missed events vs. total number of possible time tabled events and number of non-submissions

In this report you can separate visa/non-visa students in order to target Tier 4 students as part of their visa conditions

Include students who are at ‘A’ (authorised to register), ‘P’ (provisionally registered) and ‘R’ (registered)

Two Stu272 reports are run at the same time, one confirming overall attendance from week 0 onwards and the other covering the previous two/four weeks (depending on the date for the previous Stu272 report)

Stu297 – Students with Ten consecutive Absences (under ‘Live Reports’ on SDS):

This provides a list of visa students who have missed 10 consecutive timetabled events, with information about each event

Student Records will automatically generate this report once a term and circulates it to each school via the FAM-SAM mailing list. They will ask for schools/centres to respond with any students with 10 or more consecutive absences on an annotated version of the spread sheet.

Attendance reports will be run from week 1 onwards for all courses as per the following: September and January IFP & GDip Monitoring Stu272 and Stu297 reports are run on a weekly basis from week 4 onwards, and every two weeks thereafter during the first term. During the second term reports are run every two weeks for the first month and on a monthly basis thereafter. Pre-sessional Monitoring Pre-sessional students are not usually an attendance concern and once settled into the programme reports can be run on a fortnightly/three weekly basis from week 2 onwards. After roll over at the beginning of August it is no longer possible to monitor attendance using SDS reporting services. During this time attendance is monitored manually and persistent non-attenders/concerns are communicated to the SSEO by the tutors. Concerns raised by Teaching Staff Staff may develop concerns over a student’s poor attendance. To ensure these are dealt with all staff are asked to email cewlsupport@kent.ac.uk. The Student Support and Experience Officer can confirm if a student is already being monitored or deal with the concerns, as per the Centre’s attendance monitoring policy and procedures. An example of a cause for concern that may be raised in this way is where a student consistently misses a 9-11am seminar on a Tuesday, whose attendance is otherwise fine. Non-CEWL programmes

Latecomers to class Students who arrive up to 15 minutes late to seminars and lectures should be permitted to stay. Teaching staff must enter that this student is present on SDS, or for Language Express classes obtain the signature of the student on the register. A note that they were ‘late’ should be added to the notes column on the SDS register or next to their name on the signed register. Should a student arrive later than 15 minutes after the start of the seminar or lecture whether they are permitted to stay is it is at the discretion of the teaching member of staff. Should students arrive consistently late to a particular timetabled event, or a pattern seems to be developing, teaching staff are encouraged to raise this with the student directly. Where this situation continues to cause concern, teachers should inform the Student Support and Experience Officer to follow up.

Authorised Absences

Authorised absence (category ‘O’ on SDS) is used by the Centre in instances where the student has legitimate reasons for being late. These may include being authorised to arrive late for the start of a programme (students legitimately absent at the beginning of term due to delays with visas etc),

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cases when a student is unwell and has submitted medical evidence through the normal concessionary process. Authorised absences allow us to report more accurately against students with poor attendance so we can focus on students who are absent without known cause. The only members of staff in CEWL who are permitted to enter authorised absences are the Student Support and Experience Officer and Senior Tutor. The only exceptions to this are when teaching staff hold tutorials across two timetabled seminars and attendance is required at only one. In these instances teachers are permitted to entered an authorised absence for the seminar that the students did not attend a tutorial, and confirm this in the notes section. If a student knows they are going to miss a lecture/seminar/tutorial in advance they must contact their tutor out of courtesy and then email cewlsupport@kent.ac.uk confirming the reason for their absence. Provided the reason cited is due to ill health or other reasons beyond the control of the student an authorised absence is usually permitted in the first instance. However, should their absence continue and span over more than two days the student will be required to submit evidence to confirm the reasons for their absence. Likewise, should a student consistently request time off from study this will also require evidence for any further absence to be authorised.

Explained Absences Students are encouraged to inform us in advance of any period of absence if they know they will not be attending. This gives us the opportunity to discuss the absence with the student and to see if they can make up the work they will miss. Not all absence can be authorised and in some cases we cannot stop students from taking time off. By letting us know in advance we can ensure reasons for their absence are noted on their student file.

Unauthorised Absences

From week 4 onwards, any students with 40% or more absence overall, and/or ten consecutive absences, will be sent an email by the SSEO inviting them to a meeting to discuss any issues that are affecting their attendance. Visa students are prioritised through this process but all students will be sent the following:

Written warnings in relation to poor attendance

1. An initial warning email (see appendix 1a and 1b) is sent flagging a student’s recent absence and inviting the student to meet with the SSEO if necessary. This is recorded on an attendance spread sheet held in the CEWL PASS folder and a copy of the email is placed on the student file.

2. If attendance does not improve a follow up email (see appendix 2) is sent warning the student that they are at risk of disciplinary measures, and/or terminating their visa if their attendance does not improve. They are invited to attend a meeting at a given time and if appropriate an attendance report can be issued for the following week (appendix 3), which involves attending classes and reporting back to the SSEO on a daily basis. This is again recorded on the attendance spread sheet and a copy of the email placed on the student file.

3. If a student misses their appointment a third email is sent (see appendix 2) and should attendance still not improve, a Senior Tutor Warning (see appendix 4) can be issued which is logged on Cressida. A compulsory meeting with the SSEO, Senior Tutor and, if appropriate, Centre Manager is arranged and an attendance report issued which needs to be handed into the SSEO at the end of each day.

4. If the student does not attend the meeting with the SSEO and Senior Tutor or if their attendance does not improve a request to the Faculty Office can be made to issue a formal Dean’s Warning (appendix 5 and step four of the academic discipline flow chart (appendix 6)). Continue to follow this flow chart should things not improve, eventually leading to a Faculty Review Panel and withdrawal of the student if necessary.

UKVI Reporting Students whom are in the UK on a Tier 4 (General) student visa are monitored for attendance centrally and once a term the Student Record team will report to the UKVI any students whom have missed ten consecutive ‘contacts. Information about the responsibilities of the University as a HTS can be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/academic/pbs/. Tier 4 student responsibilities are outlined via http://www.kent.ac.uk/academic/pbs/your-visa-your-responsibility.pdf, including the requirement to attend all lectures and seminars. At this time a report is compiled which is sent to each school to follow up and confirm with Student Records each student’s situation and whether they are now attending, if attendance has been authorised etc. Any student who, at this point, has made no further contact will be de-registered and reported to the UKVI for non-attendance. Students are able to appeal this decision should they wish to do so. Appeals should be directed to the Academic Registrar. The University has a Compliance Manager (Overseas students) called Rebecca Blight who is responsible for overseeing the administration of overseas students at the University, particularly in relation to Tier 4 (General) visa compliance.

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Appendix 1a – First Warning Email

Visa National Warning Dear As you know, attendance is compulsory for all timetabled classes on the IFP. As an international student on a Tier 4 visa, it is particularly important that you attend all classes to demonstrate that you are fully engaging with the academic programme for which you are registered, and for which your visa was issued. If you are experiencing difficulties that are affecting your ability to attend, please let me know, as I am here to help. If there is no reason for your absence, I will be monitoring your attendance throughout the term and will need to meet you in person if this situation continues. With kind regards,

Non Visa National Warning Dear As you know, attendance is compulsory for all timetabled classes on the IFP. We are concerned that you have not been engaging fully with your studies recently and your attendance at seminars and lectures as a result has been affected. As attendance and performance are closely related, if this continues, it is likely that you will not achieve what you are capable of on your course. If you are experiencing difficulties that are affecting your ability to attend, please let me know, as I am here to help. If there is no reason for your absence, I will be monitoring your attendance throughout the term and will need to meet you in person if this situation continues. With kind regards,

Appendix 1b – Cause for Concern/Second Email

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Cause for Concern

Dear

Your teacher(s) have contacted me to draw attention to some concerns they have

regarding your approach and commitment to the IFP. I understand that you have

been……

Having raised their concerns with you directly, you have been given an opportunity to

improve your approach, although I understand from your teacher that you have yet to

make any positive changes.

I am concerned that you may be experiencing difficulties that are affecting your

ability to commit to the course and your ….. is as a result of this. If you are

experiencing any difficulties at all it is important that you deal with these sooner

rather than later and I am here to help should you need it. Please let me know if you

would like to come and see me to discuss anything.

I have asked your teacher(s) to continue monitoring your…. and should the situation

not improve you will be at risk of being issued with a more formal warning.

With kind regards,

Visa National 2nd

Email

Dear

Before Christmas I contacted you due to a drop in attendance during week 8

which you replied to and confirmed was due to illness. I’m emailing again as

your attendance dropped last week and this has raised concerns.

As you know, attendance is compulsory for all timetabled classes on the

IFP. As an international student on a Tier 4 visa, it is particularly important

that you attend all classes to demonstrate that you are fully engaging with the

academic programme for which you are registered, and for which your visa

was issued.

If you are experiencing difficulties that are affecting your ability to attend,

please let me know, as I am here to help.

If there is no reason for your absence, I will be monitoring your attendance

throughout the term and will need to meet you in person if this situation

continues.

With kind regards,

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The second warning email can be amended and used for both visa students and home students. The areas highlighted refer to overseas students with a visa only.

Visa National Warning 3 Dear I am disappointed that for a XXX time, you have failed to attend the meeting we had scheduled for this afternoon. Our centre is not in a position to offer you further assistance or support if you do not respond to out communication and attend scheduled meetings. I would like to remind you once again that attendance on the International Foundation Programme is compulsory. As a student on a Tier 4 (General) Student visa, failure to attend your classes will result in you being reported to our Academic Registrar and possibly the Home Office, which will lead to your registration at the University being terminated and your visa being curtailed. I will be issuing you with a Senior Tutor’s warning next week if I do not hear back from you with an explanation regarding your failure to attend our scheduled meetings With kind regards,

Visa/Non Visa National Warning 2 Dear I have reviewed your attendance on the IFP this term and have to inform you that your level of absence continues to be a cause for concern. Our records indicate that you have missed a major proportion of your classes/tutorials between weeks xxx, and a number previous to that. The level of timetabled classes that you have missed means that it could be difficult for you to pass the programme with enough marks to progress onto your chosen degree programme. As you know attendance is compulsory for all timetabled classes on the IFP. As an international student on a Tier 4 visa it is particularly important that you attend all classes, to demonstrate that you are engaging fully with the academic programme for which you are registered, and for which your visa was issued. I would therefore like to meet you to discuss your attendance. Please come to my office this xxx at xxx. My office is located on the first floor of Keynes College, Block C. If there is no significant reason for your absence, you could be subject to further disciplinary action. I would appreciate if you can reply to this email confirming that you will be attending the above meeting. If you are able to provide further explanation regarding your level of absence through email to me at this stage, that would also be helpful. If the proposed time is not suitable, please let me know so we can rearrange our meeting as appropriate. As a student on a Tier 4 visa, failure to attend your classes or respond to communications from the centre will result in you being reported to our Academic Registrar and possibly, your registration at the University terminated. With kind regards,

Appendix 2 – Second/Third Warning Email

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Student Name – Week S5

Guidance Notes

Student - You MUST attend every lecture/seminar/tutorial listed above and ask the teacher to sign confirming your attendance and make notes if necessary. Report back to the SSEO at the end of every day unless the last lecture/seminar/tutorial finishes at 5pm or later, in which case report to the SSEO by the end of the following day. Teacher - Please sign to confirm this student’s attendance at your lecture/seminar/tutorial and comment on their performance if you feel it is relevant to do so.

Monday Date Teacher comments Teacher signature

SSEO Signature &

Date

Module Code 09.00 – 13.00 RS7

Module Code 13.00 – 14.00 KS21

Module Code 16.00 – 18.00 RS7

Tuesday Date Teacher comments Teacher signature

SSEO Signature &

Date

Module Code 09.00 – 11.00 RS7

Wednesday Date Teacher comments Teacher signature

SSEO Signature &

Date

Module Code 09.00 – 11.00 RS7

Thursday Date Teacher comments Teacher signature

SSEO Signature &

Date

Module Code 10.00 – 11.00 RS7

Friday Date Teacher comments Teacher signature

SSEO Signature &

Date

Module Code 14.00 – 15.00 RS7

Appendix 3 – Attendance Report

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The Senior Tutor Warning can be personalised to the student and include the reasons for it being sent (see previous letters sent in the PASS folder to compare). Sections highlighted above include information about visas that are not

relevant to all students but MUST be included for students studying on a Tier 4 (General) Student visa.

This letter can include arrangements to meet formally with the student if necessary.

Appendix 4 – Senior Tutor Warning

12th March 2012

Dear Senior Tutor Warning I have reviewed your attendance this term, and have to inform you that your level of absence is a cause for concern. As a student on a Tier 4 visa, it is of particular importance that you attend all your timetabled classes, in order to demonstrate engagement with the programme of student for which your visa was issued. Insert section regarding individual student’s absence record

Section 5.2 of the University’s Regulations for Taught Programmes of Study states that:

"If, in the view of the Board of the Faculty, a student persistently fails to perform

satisfactorily the work prescribed, then the Board of the Faculty may require the

student to withdraw from the programme of study and terminate the student's

registration."

If your performance does not improve you are in danger of being subject to disciplinary action which could lead to the recommendation that you withdraw from the University and are thus denied further opportunities for referral. If your performance does not improve you are in danger of being subject to disciplinary action which could lead to the recommendation that you withdraw from the University and are thus denied further opportunities for referral. As a student on a Tier 4 (General) student visa you are also in danger of breaching the conditions of your visa and we may be forced to report this to the UK Borders Authority. If we do this your leave to remain in the UK will be curtailed and you will have to go home. Your attendance at timetabled classes and submission of coursework will be monitored closely over the coming weeks and will be reviewed again in Week 11. In order to avoid further disciplinary action on this date, you are expected to attend all classes on all the modules for which you are registered. If you are unable to meet any of the above because of exceptional circumstances such as illness, you are obliged to make an appointment with myself or the Student Support Officer so that we can discuss this further. If you fail to meet these obligations by the review date above, you will receive a formal warning from the Dean of the Faculty, which could result in the recommendation that you withdraw from the University. I strongly urge you to take this warning seriously and to take full advantage of the support on offer to you during your studies, to avoid being subject to disciplinary action by the University. Yours sincerely

Hannah McNorton Senior Tutor

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PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL Miss Student TCB16/F Tyler Court B Rutherford College Date 20

th November 2012

Canterbury Kent CT2 7NX

Dear Miss Student Formal/Sub Dean’s Warning Letter

I am writing further to the CEWL Senior Tutor’s letter of 25th October 2012, which informed you that you were in danger of

being deemed a student who 'persistently fails to perform satisfactorily the work prescribed' (Section 5.2 of the Regulations for Taught Programmes of Study). Despite having received the above letter, your performance has not improved in that:

You have failed to attend seminars/lectures in Weeks 7 and 8;

You have failed to submit any coursework for any of your modules;

You failed to attend a meeting with the Student Support Officer on Tuesday 20th November at 11:30 am.

Your attendance and submission of coursework will be monitored closely over the coming weeks and will be reviewed again on Friday 7

th December. You are expected to attend all classes and submit all written work. In order to demonstrate

compliance with this warning, you are required to obtain the signatures of your lecturers and seminar leaders at each timetabled class over the two week period from Monday 26

th November to Friday 7

th December. You should obtain these

signatures on a hard copy of your timetable, obtainable from the student portal of the Course Management and Student Data System. If you fail to meet these obligations by the review date above, your School may recommend that you should be required to withdraw from the University or you be denied the opportunity of referrals (that is, resit examinations or coursework). If there are any medical or other factors which are preventing you from fulfilling your academic obligations, you should arrange an appointment to see your Centre Student Support Officer, Dr Leonie Wells-Furby by telephone on 01227 827486 or e-mail l.wells-furby@kent.ac.uk, as soon as possible. One of the Student Support Officer’s role is to provide support for your academic progress and she should be made aware of any medical or other problems which you feel may impair your ability to fulfil your academic obligations. Whilst this is a serious issue, you are being given the opportunity to improve your performance in order that these serious steps might not be necessary. I strongly urge you to take this warning seriously and take all necessary steps to avoid the consequences mentioned above. However, if you have already withdrawn from the University but have not yet notified us now is your chance to do so, in order to avoid incurring the cost of further fees. This warning will cease to have effect, as such, after twelve months unless further proceedings in relation to your work and progress during this period are initiated. Yours sincerely Sub Dean of the Faculty of Humanities Also sent to TCB16/F Tyler Court and via email to ma467@kent.ac.uk and mariaalmn@hotmail.com. cc: Hannah McNorton, CEWL Senior Tutor

Appendix 5 – Sample Dean’s Warning Letter

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UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Centre for English and World Languages

Student Academic Discipline Flow Chart Non-Attendance / Submission and/or Unsatisfactory Performance

Step one – Monitoring School identifies student not attending seminars or not submitting coursework (by weeks 6 and 18 respectively to allow necessary time for following stages).

Dept contacts the student and asks for an explanation. Step two - Interview School not satisfied with explanation, or student continues to fall below expected standards = LWF invites student for interview.

No further action

School satisfied with explanation /performance

Step three – First/Senior Tutor Warning

If School not satisfied with outcome of interview or student fails to improve performance, the Senior Tutor may issue a First /Senior Tutor Warning Letter. Letter must include:

Grounds for warning.

Further action which will follow if warning not heeded.

Explanation as to what will constitute a “failure to heed warning”.

Time limit by which student must make the desired improvements.

(Optional – Schools may require students to obtain signatures of seminar leaders on a timetable and submit same to the School by a given date.)

Letters should be sent to all known addresses, including all email addresses.

Step four – Formal/Dean’s Warning If student fails to comply, the Senior Tutor may issue a Formal Warning, signed by the Dean. Letter must include:

Grounds for warning.

Further action which will follow if warning not heeded.

Explanation as to what will constitute a “failure to heed warning”.

Time limit by which student must make the desired improvements.

(Optional – Schools may require students to obtain signatures of seminar leaders on a timetable and submit same to the School by a given date.)

Letters should be sent to all known addresses, including all email addresses.

Warning will cease to have effect after 12 months if no further proceedings initiated.

Letters for the Dean’s signature should be channelled through the Faculty Officer and include a copy of the First/Senior Tutor’s Warning. Schools must keep copies of warning letters. Schools must set the Warning Flag on the Student Data System, indicating the type of warning issued and ensure the flags are removed at the end of the twelve month period from the date the student received the warning.

Step five – Consideration of denial of referral or requirement to withdraw

Following expiry of the time limit contained in the last letter, the Senior Tutor should consider whether conditions have been met.

Step six – Decision as to penalty If not satisfied the Senior Tutor may:

Issue a further Formal/Dean’s Warning.

Advise the student s/he may be denied referral opportunities.

Recommend (in consultation with the Dean) that the student is required to withdraw from the University, completing a Termination of Registration checklist.

Step seven – Faculty Review Panel Before a student is required to withdraw they must be given the opportunity to make representations to a Faculty Review Panel. Such a meeting must take place no later than week 23 and will be arranged by the Faculty Office. Requests to Faculty should be received by week 19.

Appendix 6

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RECORDING ATTENDANCE

Login to SDS:

https://sds.kent.ac.uk/accou

nt/

At the beginning of each class (lecture or seminar) we ask that you record the attendance for the session on SDS.

We suggest you do this just before starting class (5 past the hour). If a student is late then they will not receive

attendance for that session.

Select ‘Module

Maintenace’ / ‘Marks,

Deadlines & Attendance

Entry’

Enter your Module Code

and click on ‘Next’

Appendix 7

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Select the correct version of

your Module (if relevant)

and click on ‘Next’

NB for pre-sessional

modules, there will only be

one option

For IFP, click on ‘Go’ for

the Principal Group if

taking attendance for your

Lecture or on ‘Go’ for the

Seminar Group you’re

taking attendance for at the

time.

For Presessional, click ‘Go’

for your group under the

attendance column

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Select the correct session /

seminar by clicking on

‘Attendance’

Then the correct week by

clicking on ‘Go’ in the

‘Enter On-line’ column.

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We suggest that you then

click on the ‘Select All’

tick-box for P (Present) and

then change the individual

ticks to A (Absent) for any

student who isn’t there.

Once you have entered the

attendance for everyone in

the group, click on ‘Save

Changes’…

That’s it, all done!

Late students

Allow entry to the class as

per the agreed policy on late

comers. If late by more

than 15 minutes mark as

absent, under 15 minutes

mark as present and add a

note to the register.

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Authorised Absences

If a student is absent and

has sought permission in

advance this may already be

noted on the register. If

not, mark as absent and ask

the student to contact

cewlsupport@kent.ac.uk

Tutorials

During a reading week

when tutorials are required

these are input against

lectures/seminars depending

on arrangements between

the staff/student. When not

attending enter an

authorised absence and add

‘tutorial week’ in the notes

section for each student.

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TROUBLESHOOTING

Have you entered

attendance for all

students?

You must enter either ‘A’

for absent or ‘P’ for present

for all students. If you miss

a student the attendance

report will not show as

completed. You can check

this as follows:

1. IIn the register itself

there will be no tick against the student (not easy to spot)

2. IIn ‘Select Attendance’ completed registers are highlighted pink. Where attendance data has been entered but the register is incomplete this shows as ‘P’. Where there is no attendance entered this shows as ‘N’

OR